A blog for memories & thoughts -- about God, family, friendship, literature, the South, home, England, and life -- with a recipe thrown in every so often.

Saturday, 15 March 2014

Mardi Gras 2014

Catch-up Post! We had a fun, but low-key Mardi Gras season and Fat Tuesday this year. We didn't try any get-togethers. On Fat Tuesday, we were fortunate to have gumbo in the freezer, so all I had to cook was a decadent dessert before the Lenten season would commence at midnight. Even though King Cake is a traditional Mardi Gars food, it's not what we wanted. We wanted a homemade key lime pie and it was delicious!

The fleur-de-lis was an after-Christmas find at Kirklands. If you don't have beads, you can find them at Dollar Tree.

My masks, as well as the gold balls in the hurricane glass, came from King Dollar:

This little tree was our Dr. Suess tree at Christmas. On Epiphany, it became our Mardi Gras tree. The garland on the mantle was a new find this year from Kirkland's after Christmas, for just $3.00. I threaded clearance Christmas ribbon through it.

On to dessert:

The key to a great citrus dessert: zest from the outer peel:

That is a whole cup of juice from those tiny key limes. The best method is using a fork to juice each lime. Rolling the limes before cutting them helps get the juices flowing.

Zest: my microplaner is one of my favorite kitchen tools! I even added zest to the graham cracker crust, for extra lime flavor.

Now, doesn't that seem decadent enough for a Fat Tuesday dessert?! Homemade whipped cream piped on top is the crowning glory. Here's a few recipes and more tips:

At Considerable Cost

"I have found that violence is strangely capable of returningmy characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace. Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will do the work. This idea, that reality is something to which we must be returned at considerable cost, is one which is seldom understood by the casual reader, but is one which is implicit in the Christian view of the world." --Flannery O'Connor

About Me

Formerly an un-churched, anti-Catholic from the deep south--now a Catholic convert--wife, mother, friend, teacher, reader, writer, and baker, but not a candle-stick maker. I long for beauty and truth and I appreciate it in places and people unexpected.

My friends tell me I was born in the wrong decade, if not the wrong century, but God makes no mistakes. I attempt to daily offer up my humble loaves and fishes to God, that he may provide me with what I need. This is my attempt to record some of my journey for my children and myself.

--Terri Duhon

Thrice Blessed

I am from the deep south.

I have found that anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic. --Flannery O' Connor